


Forever Pack, Forever Family

by Ilovesocks_24



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Laura, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Kate and Gerard want to kill all the werewolves, M/M, Self Confidence Issues, Stiles and Scott don't want that to happen, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-06 03:10:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1842112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilovesocks_24/pseuds/Ilovesocks_24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Stiles accidentally volunteers himself and Scott to join the local Hale Pack as way to build a better relationship between werewolves and humans and to help Scott become a better werewolf, he expects to see lots of claws, fangs and glowing eyes. </p><p>What he doesn't expect is to fall head over heels for the surly beta, Derek Hale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Attacks

“ _Sheriff Stilinski!”_

“So much for having a quiet lunch with my son,” John sighed, putting down his sandwich and straightening his tie. “I wonder who that could be.”

Stiles barely had time to chew and swallow before the door flung open and Gerard, and Kate Argent burst into the Sheriff’s office with _very_ angry expressions on their faces.

It took every ounce of Stiles’ willpower to keep from rolling his eyes, because whenever one or more Argents were in his dad’s office, it was _always_ about the ‘problems’ with werewolves. They were so obsessed with them, Stiles would’ve thought that they probably wanted to be werewolves themselves, if it weren’t for them constantly talking about exterminating the werewolf entire population.

“Did you know that the city of Rocklin was attacked last night?" Gerard asked furiously. “That’s the third unprovoked werewolf attack this month! What are you going to do about it?”

“Yes, Gerard, I did read this morning’s paper, so I do know about the attack,” John answered coolly. “Unfortunately, I’m not the Sheriff of Rocklin, so there’s really nothing I can do.”

“You know what he means,” Kate said icily. “What are you going to do to protect our city? There’s already a pack of mongrels living here. What are you going to do about them?”

“Well, Kate, since the Hale pack has been living peacefully in Beacon Hills preserve for years, I don’t really have any means to arrest them. They keep to themselves and they even do their grocery shopping late at night so they don’t unnerve the citizens,” John answered. “Plus they haven’t given me any reason to think that they’re planning an attack, so to answer your question, I’m not going to do anything.”

“Did you miss the part about the attacks being _unprovoked_?” Gerard asked, narrowing his eyes. “That means—”

“I think we all know what unprovoked means,” Stiles cut in. “Now if you would excuse us, we’re trying to have a pleasant father-son lunch, and we can’t do that with you two yelling at us.”

“Stiles…”

“You don’t have a leg to stand on,” Kate shot back. “Your best friend is an omega. He’s not even tied to a pack. What’s to stop him from attacking the city too?”

“You know, besides the fact that Scott’s a puppy who barely knows how to get all five of his claws out without the help of the full moon? He’s been a werewolf for like four months, tops,” Stiles said, raising an eyebrow. “There’s no way he’s a threat.”

“He’s a _werewolf_ ,” Gerard retorted. “Werewolves are _always_ a threat.”

“Besides, don’t you have to lock him up on full moons?” Kate asked, voice laced with venom. “That sounds like a threat to me. Especially if he doesn’t have a handle on his ‘powers’.”

“Seriously? What’s your guys’ problem? Scott’s done nothing wrong, and neither has the Hale Pack and you two know it. You guys should really just drop the whole thing.” Stiles retorted, narrowing his eyes. The whole thing was ridiculous, and the fact that they were accusing _Scott_ of being a threat really made him mad.  

“It’s only a matter of time before they start something,” Gerard said. “They’re werewolves, it’s what they do. Look at what happened to Rocklin and the other cities.” 

“That doesn’t mean—” Stiles started, but was stopped when he felt his dad’s hand on his shoulder. 

“I’ll take it from here, Stiles,” John said gently. Then he turned back to the dastardly duo. “Look, Gerard, I know you have your issues with the Hale pack, and werewolves in general, but the Hales have done nothing wrong, and until they attack Beacon Hills, there’s really nothing I can do.” 

“Figures,” Kate spat. Stiles leveled her with a glare of his own, but it didn’t have the desired effect since she simply rolled her eyes and looked away. 

“Relax, Kate,” Gerard said, “It’s not like we expected anything different from him. We’ll be taking our leave now Sheriff, since it’s clear that you’re going to side with the werewolves. But just so you know, we’re not the only ones who have a problem with those mongrels. This is only the beginning.”

***

“Hey buddy! How’s my favorite werewolf?”

“It’s good!” Scott said, brightening as Stiles waked into the room. “I can finally get my eyes to flash now! Watch!” 

Stiles looked on in amusement as Scott made a face that looked like he was about to sneeze. It would’ve been a lot funnier if he hadn’t known that Scott was really trying his hardest. Finally Scott’s eyes briefly flickered gold and he looked at Stiles expectantly. 

“Did you see it?” He asked excitedly. “Did you see them? They totally changed!”

“I know, bud!” Stiles said, bro-punching Scott in the chest. “That’s so awesome! I know you’ve really been working hard.”

“I have!” Scott replied, nodding vigorously. “It’s hard enough that I’m learning everything on my own, but I’m really happy with my progress. It’s nice that we’re on summer vacation. I want to be able grow claws without growing fangs by graduation.”

“About that…” Stiles started awkwardly. “Have you ever thought about joining the Hale Pack? I’m sure that they would help you learn how to do all the cool werewolf stuff. Maybe they could even find out who bit you." 

“Yeah, I have, actually,” Scott said. “One of them even came and offered me a place in their pack. I don’t know, it just didn’t seem like it was for me.” 

“Dude, what?” Stiles asked incredulously. “Why am I now just now hearing about this? When did this happen?” 

“A couple days after I got bit,” Scott answered. “I was in the preserve trying to figure out how to get my claws to work, when a big, broody guy came out of the shadows and offered me a place in the pack.” 

“Why didn’t you join?”

“I’m independent?” Scott tried. “I don’t know. I just didn’t feel like he had my best interests at heart. It was like he was only there because someone told him to be. He kept saying that he and I were ‘brothers’ but I didn’t buy it. So that’s why I didn’t join the pack.”

“And you kept this a secret, why?”

“Because I didn’t think it was that big of a deal,” Scott answered, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “He asked me, I said no, I never saw him again. I thought that was the end of it. I didn’t mean to keep it a secret, I just didn’t think it was that important to bring up.” 

Stiles wanted to bang his head against the wall because sometimes Scott could _really_ be oblivious.

“So all those times I talked about the importance of pack dynamics and how dangerous it was to be an omega did nothing for you?”

“I wasn’t really paying attention,” Scott said sheepishly. “You always bring up random werewolf facts when we’re playing videogames and I think you’re trying to distract me, so I tune you out.” 

“Oh my God,” Stiles said, burying his face in his hands. “Scott, we have to see if you can at least learn the basics of being a werewolf from the Hales.”

“Why? I haven’t been doing anything wrong, have I? People are already kind of afraid of me. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I would never do that.” 

“No, you’re fine, buddy. And people are stupid. Everyone who doesn’t like you is stupid,” Stiles reassured. “It’s just with all the recent unprovoked werewolf attacks in neighboring cities and the resident werewolf haters here in Beacon Hills, I don’t want people targeting you just because you’re a werewolf.” 

“But I barely know what I’m doing half the time,” Scott said with a pout that just melted Stiles heart. “I wouldn’t hurt anybody. I swear.”

“I know, bud,” Stiles said, slinging a comforting arm around Scott’s shoulders. “And I won’t let anyone hurt you either. Come on, you can buy me curly fries and we can talk to my dad about it tomorrow.”

***

“The city of Davis was attacked last night. They’ve never had a problem with their local werewolf pack, but three people were injured last night. You still think that werewolves aren’t a problem?”

Stiles didn’t know if in addition to hating werewolves, Gerard and Kate also took some sick pleasure in disrupting his lunches with his dad. And today was a special occasion, because they had Scott with them too.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Gerard,” John said, throwing his arms up in frustration. “I’ve told you before that I can’t do anything about attacks that happen in other cities.”

“He means how are you going to protect _us_? At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before the Hale pack turns on us. And I’ll be damned if I let a pack of wild dogs attack me when I’m not expecting it. Not if I can fight back." 

“So what do you suggest, Kate?” John asked wearily. “You clearly have some ideas, why don’t you just lay them on the table?”

“So glad you asked, Sheriff,” Gerard said. “Originally we had the idea of just going in and taking them out before they could strike the first blow, but we had a feeling that you wouldn’t be a fan of that plan.”

“Got that right,” Stiles muttered, ignoring the warning look both his dad and Scott shot him.

“So then we came up with a more… _diplomatic_ approach,” Gerard said, eyes lighting up in a way that made Stiles’ stomach churn.

“Which would be?”

“We send a representative from our city to go live with the Hale pack for a little while. Sort of like an emissary,” Gerard explained. “That way we can learn more about the Hale pack from the inside to make sure they’re not planning to attack the city.”  

“And on the off chance that they _are_ planning to attack us?” John asked warily. “What then?”

“Then we have our failsafe,” Kate said, pulling out a small plastic bag filled with a white powder. “This is a rare type of wolfsbane. It’s odorless _and_ tasteless, so if you slip this into the Hale’s food supply, it’ll take them out for good.” 

“That little bag is going to stop a whole pack of werewolves?” Stiles asked doubtfully.

“Absolutely,” Kate sneered. “And this is just a small sample. There’s way more where this came from. But this’ll get the job done.” 

“You want to kill them?” Scott asked weakly.

“If it comes to that,” Kate answered with a calculated coolness. “With werewolves you can never be too careful. And it’s better to attack them _before_ they can attack you.”

“Yeah, but they still haven’t done anything wrong,” Scott muttered, looking at the floor. “You don’t have to kill them. We’re—werewolves aren’t evil.”

“Oh honey, it’s not like that,” Kate answered. “We don’t want you thinking we’re the bad guys. We just want to protect our friends and family. It’s nothing against you, personally. It’s just with all the recent attacks, we’re just a little on edge.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Scott said quietly.

“So there you have it, Sheriff.” Gerard said as he tilted his chin up, seemingly satisfied that Scott was emotionally subdued. “Are you going to send us or what?”

“Absolutely not,” John said, narrowing his eyes. “If I had a week I couldn’t list all the reasons this ridiculous plan of yours wouldn’t work. For starters, it’s _illegal_.” 

“Who cares about it being legal,” Kate spat. “Every second we waste gives the Hale pack more time to plan an attack. We could be there trying to stop them right now.”

“Take it easy, Kate,” Gerard said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We both know that the Sheriff doesn’t have a choice but to send someone into the Pack. Legally or not.” 

“Oh really? And why would that be?” John asked, folding his arms over his chest. “I have no proof that the Hale pack is planning anything malicious, even if the other attacks have been violent. No one’s going anywhere." 

“Is this your wife, Sheriff?” Gerard asked, picking up the picture of Claudia off of the desk. “She was very pretty. It’s a shame about what happened to her. It was back when you were still a deputy, correct?” 

“Yes,” John said, nodding. “It was a hard time for all of us.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Gerard said. “And I’m sure you did everything in your power to save her.”

“Naturally.”

“Including accepting city money under the table from Alan Deaton, the previous sheriff, perhaps?” Gerard asked, tilting his head thoughtfully. “Of course, I understand why you did it: cancer treatment is _expensive_ and deputies don’t make that much. But that doesn’t make what you did any less illegal.”

“Wha—how did—what are you talking about?” John sputtered.

Stiles’ own mouth dropped open, and he let out a small gasp. “Wait, wha...”

“Don’t play dumb, Sheriff, or I’ll lose what little respect for you I have,” Kate mocked, shooting Stiles smug look. “ _We_ know what happened, but wouldn’t it be a _shame_ if everyone in Beacon Hills found out about it? They’d have your badge _and_ your head.” 

“It’s going to take a lot more than you threatening my position to get me to crack,” John said, lifting his chin defiantly. “And even if I did lost my position as Sheriff, I’d be okay with that as long as it meant that you two stayed away from the Hale pack.”

“How _noble_ ,” Gerard said, rolling his eyes. “But talk is cheap, Sheriff. And you’re not looking at the big picture, either. You’re looking at extortion. What do you think’s gonna happen to your family when you’re shipped off to prison. What about Stiles here? His mother’s already dead. You’re really going to leave him all alone in life?” 

“I hear you’re really big on family, Stiles,” Kate said, smirking. “How do you think you’ll do in life, knowing your father’s locked behind bars somewhere?”

A shocked and fearful expression flashed across John’s face as he turned and locked eyes with Stiles. For the first time in his life, Stiles was completely at a loss for words and he couldn’t do anything but stare blankly back at his dad. 

“I… What do you want from me?” John asked after a period of silence. 

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Gerard said, a smug look unfurling across his face. “Here’s what’s going to happen, you have twenty-four hours to draft a legal document that allows you to send two emissaries into the Hale Pack on behalf of the city of Beacon Hills. Then Kate and I will go, do what needs to be done and determine if the Hale Pack is as safe as you say.”

“And if I don’t?” 

“I think you know what happens,” Kate said. “We’ll leave the wolfsbane here to make sure you make the right decision. See you in twenty-four hours.” She grinned venomously before turning around and walking out of the office.

“Christ, this can not be happening right now,” John said, dragging his hand across his face and leaning heavily against the desk. “Stiles... I’m sorry. I never wanted you to find out about that. It’s not my proudest moment by a long shot, I just… We didn’t have the money, and there was no other way...”

“It’s okay, Dad,” Stiles said, placing a comforting hand on John’s shoulder. He was still frustrated that despite everything his dad had done, his mom still hadn’t been able to win her battle with cancer. And now, the Argents were throwing everything back in his dad’s face. Like it had all been for nothing.

“I probably would’ve done the same thing, but we’ll worry about that later,” he continued. “Right now we need to figure out how we’re going to keep the Argents away from the Hale Pack.”

“I have to send them,” John said, eyeing the wolfsbane warily. “I don’t have any other choice.” 

“There has to be something on them,” Stiles said, frowning thoughtfully. “The Argents will kill the Hales without even batting an eye. That’s not good emissary behavior. Scott and I would be better emissaries than they would." 

“We would?” Scott asked weakly.

“Right,” John muttered. “You really think you two would be convincing. The Hale pack would tear you two apart. ” 

“Not with a great cover story, they won’t,” Stiles said, eyes lighting up. “Scott, you’ve already been offered membership into the Hale pack. And you’ve been rethinking your denial and you want to join again. I’m just tagging along because you’re my best friend and I want to learn more about werewolves. Simple as that. Hey, this could work.” 

“No. It can’t,” John sighed “You can’t lie to a werewolf. Even I know that.”

“Then we won’t lie,” Stiles said. “We’ll just really tell half truths. I’m great at that. You should know better than anyone, dad.”

“Stiles…” John said, rolling his eyes. “Even if I was okay with you going, you have no way to protect yourselves. What if the Hale pack _is_ volatile like the Argents say? You going to hide behind Scott? He’s a _puppy_ compared to them.”

“I can make my eyes flash,” Scott pouted.

“Well it’s a good thing the Argents left their wolfsbane,” Stiles said confidently. “On the off chance that we do face a threat, that’ll buy us enough time to get out and come back for reinforcements.”

“That’s all good in theory, Stiles,” John said. “But what am I going to tell the Argents? If they don’t go into the Hale pack, they’ll tell everyone what happened, and I’ll lose my job.”

“You tell them everything I just told you,” Stiles said seriously. “If they go in trigger-happy, like we all know they will, the Hales will probably tear them apart. And somehow I think that Kate and Gerard want to kill werewolves and stay _alive_ at the same time.”

“Stiles, I don’t know about this…” 

“Dad, as much as I hate to admit it, the Argents do have a point,” Stiles said. “Werewolf attacks are becoming more frequent and more violent, and we need to make sure the Hale pack is peaceful,” he continued. “And the only way we’re getting in there without causing any problems is with Scott,” he said, slinging an arm around Scott’s shoulders. “They won’t trust us without him. Dad _come on_ , it _has_ to be us.” 

“What do you think, Scott?” John asked. 

“I… I want to help,” Scott murmured. “And it wouldn’t hurt to learn how to be a better werewolf. Maybe the Hale pack could teach me some things. Then at least people wouldn’t be afraid of me anymore.” 

“Okay,” John sighed. “If you guys are sure. I still don’t have a good feeling about this. But if you have the wolfsbane, I guess that’ll help me sleep better at night.”

***

“So, explain to me again why you’re sending your son and his best friend and not us?” Gerard asked through gritted teeth. “Because I’m still not getting it.”

“Because it won’t look as suspicious if we send a werewolf into their pack,” John explained again. “Scott’s our best bet, and he won’t go without Stiles.” 

“They’re _eighteen_ ,” Kate hissed. “This is their summer vacation. You really think that they want to spend it with a pack of werewolves?” 

“Scott’s already a werewolf,” Stiles pointed out. “And we like to think of it as summer school. Broadening our horizons and whatnot.” 

“Right,” Gerard said, rolling his eyes. “I guess it could work. At least if the Hales end up not liking you, they’ll kill you and that saves us one more werewolf to kill, _and_ it gives us more of a reason to kill the Hales.”

“I knew you wanted to kill them." 

“We were being transparent on purpose, Stiles,” Kate said rolling her eyes. 

“Regardless, take the wolfsbane,” Gerard said, tossing it to Stiles. “Knowing you two, you’ll probably need it.” 

***

“You’re _sure_ about this?”

“Scott, you can’t be getting cold feet now,” Stiles said as they pulled into the driveway. “We’re already at the Hale house.” 

“Yeah, you are.” 

Stiles and Scott whirled around and saw and saw a beautiful blonde girl leaning on the doorframe. She hopped off of the top of the stairs and landed in front of them, smirking as she looked them both over. 

“So what do we owe the pleasure of having an omega and a human grace us with their presence?” She purred, eyes flashing gold as she dragged a finger up Scott’s chest. “Especially ones who are so cute.” 

“I… um… we’re here to…” 

“Erica, stop teasing them.”

Stiles’ jaw all but dropped open as probably the _hottest_ guy on the planet stepped of the house. He probably had the most beautiful set of pecs Stiles had ever seen and his face was coated with a lovely layer of stubble. He was scowling at all of them as he looked on from the top of the stairs. 

Under no circumstances did Stiles squeak when the new hot guy dramatically jumped from the top of the stairs and landed in front of them. And he definitely didn’t take a couple steps back when the hot new werewolf’s hazel-green eyes locked with his own.

“Uh oh,” Erica purred. “Big bad Derek to the rescue. You know, just because you’re the alpha’s younger brother, that doesn’t give you the right to boss me around.” 

“Shut up,” Derek growled letting his eyes flash before turning back to Stiles and Scott. 

“I thought you weren’t interested in being a part of the Hale pack, Scott,” Derek said, frowning. “What changed your mind?”

“Wait, you guys know each other?” Stiles asked, looking between the two of them. “Scott _,_ _this_ is the guy you were talking about? He asked you to join the pack?” 

“I did,” Derek said lowly. “And Scott said no, and now he’s back. Why?” 

“I… um?”

“Don’t lie,” Derek growled. “I’ll be able to tell.”

“He’s here to learn how to be a better werewolf,” Stiles said, standing in front of Scott and folding his arms. As hot as Derek was, he didn’t like the way he was talking to Scott. 

“I don’t remember asking _you,_ ” Derek said. “And that doesn’t explain why you’re here either. You’re a human.” 

“Oh, I… I’m here as an emissary,” Stiles said, suddenly intimidated. “On behalf of the city of Beacon Hills. We have papers from the Sheriff.”

“Ooh, an emissary,” Erica purred. “That sounds interesting. Why would we need one of those?”

“Well with all the recent werewolf attacks in neighboring cities, we thought it would be a good idea to foster a good relationship with our local pack,” Stiles explained handing the paper to Derek. 

“Recent werewolf attacks?” Derek asked, eyes narrowing as he skimmed the page. “What are you talking about?” 

“You haven’t heard?” Stiles asked. “It’s been all over the news.”

“We don’t really get out much,” Erica explained. “Sort of defeats the point of lying low and keeping a low profile. Unless it’s World War III, we’re probably not going to hear about it.”

“Oh, I…” 

“Where’s Laura?” Derek growled. “She needs to hear about this.” 

“Who?” 

“Laura, She’s the alpha, she makes all the important decisions in our pack,” Erica explained. “She went out for a run with the boys because they lost when we played capture the flag, but she’ll be back soon. Gives us a chance to get to know each other,” she added, winking at Stiles. 

“Laura’s the one who’s going to decide what to do with you,” Derek said. “So you better hope that she likes you.” 

***

Laura was fabulous. There was no other way to put it. She knew it, and she knew everyone else knew it. As Stiles watched her model-walk out of the woods in a sports bra and shorts and coated with a thin sheen of sweat and flanked by three other sweaty, shirtless werewolves, all he could think about was how effortless she made everything look. 

“Good run, boys,” she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Maybe in a couple of moons you guys will finally be able to keep up with me.”

“It’s not like you have an advantage because you’re an alpha,” one of the werewolves panted. Based on his attitude and All-American good looks, Stiles had a feeling that he had a very high opinion of himself. “Must be nice to have the strength and speed advantage that comes with that.”

“I hear whining,” Laura said, rolling her eyes. “Come on, Jackson, I know you’re a sore loser, but really? We went for a _run,_ it wasn’t like it was a life or death situation.”

“I guess,” Jackson replied. “But at least I beat Isaac and Boyd,” he said, gesturing to the timid blue eyed werewolf and the large muscular black werewolf in front of him. 

“I should hope so,” Laura replied. “Seeing as how you’ve been a werewolf longer than both of them, and Boyd outweighs you by about a good fifty pounds.”

“Whatever,” Jackson said, shoving his way past Isaac and Boyd. Isaac stumbled a little bit, and Boyd stuck an arm out to steady him, rolling his eyes fondly. It looked like they were used to dealing with Jackson’s antics.

“Who are these guys?” Jackson asked, stopping in front of Stiles and Scott. “This one smells like an omega.” 

“Good question,” Laura asked, inclining her head. “I’m Laura, and you are?”

“I’m Stiles and this is Scott. And we’ve got a bit of a problem.”

*** 

“So let me get this straight,” Laura said from her place on the couch. “You’re saying that packs of werewolves have been attacking cities and you’re here to establish a good relationship with us to make sure we don’t attack Beacon Hills?”

“Um…”

“ _And_ you’re hoping that we’ll teach your friend Scott how to be a better werewolf even though he doesn’t want to be in our pack.” 

“I guess,” Stiles said, looking to Scott for support. Unfortunately, Scott hadn’t been paying much attention since Isaac was still in the room. 

While Laura had gone upstairs to shower, Isaac, Jackson and Boyd had stayed behind to roughhouse with Erica. They had remained shirtless while Stiles was explaining the situation to Laura, and Scott hadn’t been able to take his eyes off of Isaac’s torso the entire time. 

“Look, I know it sounds bad, but we really need your help.”

“And you have no ulterior motive?” Derek asked. “No secret plans to kill us?”

And whoa, Stiles had kind of forgotten he was there. He _would_ be the one to bring up Stiles’ secret.

His thoughts drifted to the small bag of wolfsbane that was in his suitcase and wondered if it qualified as a secret plan to kill the Hale pack, even if he really didn’t want to use it. 

“I…” 

“Derek, _relax_ ,” Laura said, rolling her eyes. “I swear you can be so paranoid sometimes.”

“And _you_ can be too trusting,” Derek shot back. “You can’t just welcome new people into the pack for no reason.”

“Actually, I’m the alpha, so yes I can,” Laura said, standing up and looking Derek in the eyes. Her eyes flickered red, and Derek muttered something under his breath before turning away.

“That’s what I thought,” Laura said.  “Besides, I don’t think we have anything to worry about. When Peter gets back, I’m sure he’ll agree with me. He’s always wanted to build a bigger pack.” 

“Who’s Peter?” Stiles asked.

“Our uncle and the last member of our pack,” Laura explained. “He’s away on personal business, but he should be back soon. He’ll be _so_ excited to meet you.”

“I can’t help but feel a little nervous about that,” Stiles chuckled.

“Maybe. I’ll let you make your first impression,” Laura said, shrugging. “You’ll meet him soon. In the meantime,” she said, eyes flashing predatorily, “I think it’s time we had a hunt.”


	2. Hunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may be in need of a beta for this, just someone to bounce ideas off of. My email is altoncasey@yahoo.com if you're interested.

“A hunt?” Stiles stammered, looking around in awe as the rest of the werewolves started to shift, eyes flashing and claws lengthening. “What does… Why would we want to do that?” 

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I didn’t burn off enough energy during my run,” Laura said, standing up and stretching her arms above her head. “Plus going on a hunt is one of the best ways to strengthen pack relations, other than puppy piles.” 

“What’s a puppy pile?” 

“It’s where we all get in a big pile and cuddle all night,” Isaac offered helpfully, and Stiles pretended not to notice the way Scott perked up at the mention of cuddling everyone, especially Isaac. “It’s a lot fun, especially after the full moon.” 

“But no offence, I don’t want to puppy pile with either of you,” Jackson growled at Scott and Stiles. “I barely know you two and you’re not even pack.” 

“Still complaining, I see,” Laura said. “Anyway, Stiles and Scott you guys are welcome to come along if you want. Hunts can a little get dangerous though, so if you don’t want to get hurt, you can stay here. Especially since Stiles is a human and Scott is still basically a baby werewolf. I still think it wouldn’t hurt to see what you can do, Scott.” 

“I won’t get hurt,” Scott said, jumping up and puffing his chest out. “I’m still a werewolf. I can protect myself. ”

Stiles barely suppressed the urge to groan at Scott’s blatant attempt to impress Isaac. Even Erica and Boyd were rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. Meanwhile, Isaac was doing his best not to blush but was failing miserably. Seriously, those two couldn’t be more obvious if they tried.

“The last time I saw you, you could barely howl,” Derek cut in, glaring at Scott. “And now I’m supposed to believe that in less than five months you’re able to go on a hunt? Hunts are _dangerous_ , and you’re not ready.”

“I can totally do it,” Scott said, shooting a not-so subtle glance at Isaac. “I’m not going to get hurt by a silly animal. I’m an apex predator.”

“Well, I guess we’ll find out,” Laura said, raising an eyebrow. “Everyone, partner up. Jackson, you’re with me. I want to see how well your training has progressed now that we’re in a real-life situation, even if it is only a hunt.” 

Jackson groaned as he fell into place behind Laura. Meanwhile, Boyd and Erica partnered up while Isaac looked at Scott expectantly. A dopey grin appeared on Scott’s face and he bounded over to Isaac, but yelped when Derek grabbed his collar, stopping him in his tracks. 

“No way. You’re with me,” Derek growled, yanking Scott back down on the couch. “There’s no way I’m letting you get in the way and endangering Isaac with your recklessness.”

“You haven’t even seen what I can do though,” Scott pouted. “I’m a good werewolf.”

“I’ll be the one to judge that,” Derek said, narrowing his eyes. “Isaac, you go with Stiles. Try not to let him get hurt. He is a human, after all,” he added, as an afterthought.   

“I’m the Sheriff’s kid and I was in Boy Scouts,” Stiles shot back. “I think I’ll be okay.”

“You were only in Boy Scouts for two weeks though,” Scott pointed out. “And then you quit because they weren’t active enough and you couldn’t tie a butterfly knot.”

“Thanks for the glowing recommendation, Scott,” Stiles said, ignoring the way Derek smirked and raised his eyebrows judgmentally. Seriously, for a guy so hot, Derek seemed like a major douchebag. 

“So we’re all set,” Laura said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s move out. We’ll go find a deer or something and then we’ll discuss everything else when we get back.”

***

“So, Isaac, right?” Stiles asked as they crouched behind a bush. “What’s it like being a werewolf? Gotta be pretty cool with all the claws and the fangs, huh?”

“Shhh, keep your voice down,” Isaac hissed, pointing to the deer. “You’re going to give away our position. Deer have pretty good hearing, and the ones in our woods are always cautious because we go on hunts so often.”

“Oh, right,” Stiles murmured. He watched as the deer took a drink from the stream and trotted around the clearing. Its antlers looked pretty impressive, and Stiles had a feeling that it would hurt if they poked him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Boyd and Erica peer out from behind a tree, while Scott and Derek knelt behind a bush across from him and Isaac. 

If he was honest with himself, Stiles was in awe of how seamlessly and effectively the Hale pack had surrounded the deer. Stiles hadn’t exactly been familiar with werewolf hunting techniques before he met the Hale pack, but the Argents had made it seem like all werewolves were mindless killing machines; all claws and no plans. But this method seemed chillingly effective, with no chance of escape. Stiles would hate to get on the Hale pack’s bad side if this was what awaited him.

“What are you guys waiting for?” Stiles asked quietly. “You have it surrounded.”

“Laura,” Isaac murmured, pointed at the large black wolf that appeared at the edge of the clearing. “She’s going to scare it, and whoever it runs to just herds it into someone else and we just repeat the process.”

As if on cue, Laura roared and sprang at the deer, startling it and causing it to bolt in Derek and Scott’s direction.

“Aww, man,” Isaac groaned as he stood up and rolled his eyes. “I really wanted to scare him first. It’s no fun when Derek does it.”

Stiles watched in awe as the Hale pack systematically corralled the deer. One of the werewolves would lunge at him, causing him to bolt in the other direction, running straight into the glowing eyes and sharp claws of another member of the pack.

The deer was obviously frightened and kept making bleated cries into the night, but Stiles could tell that he wasn’t in any danger. Laura and the rest of the pack were just having a good time. They could’ve easily killed the deer already, but instead they were toying with him, not causing any real damage other than minor cuts and scratches. In fact, they seemed to be making a game out of who could do the flashiest move to charge at the deer. 

Erica seemed to really like jumping out of the tree branches, while Boyd and Isaac preferred hiding behind the tree trunks and springing out when the deer least expected it. Unsurprisingly, Derek and Jackson were fans of the all-out approach, charging at the deer in what looked like reckless abandon, but Stiles was quickly able to tell that there was a distinct method to their madness.

It was definitely an interesting process to watch. Stiles knew that he would probably never witness anything like this ever again, since he wasn’t planning on staying with the Hale pack forever. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t sit back and enjoy his time with them. 

Stiles had never really been a part of a large group of friends in high school. Most of the time, it was just him and Scott. So watching the Hale pack yip and bark as they played with the deer was something that Stiles could enjoy. 

Until Scott decided to be the big hero and try to impress Isaac. 

“Isaac, look what I can do!” he called from a perch on a tree branch. Stiles fought the urge to groan because whenever Scott yelled those words, something bad usually happened.

As Scott leapt off of the tree branch, the rest of the werewolves stopped their attacks on the deer and watched him soar through the air. It looked impressive for about two seconds before Scott started to flail in mid-air, losing all form of intimidation. The deer, recognizing its window of opportunity, scrambled to its feet and charged at Scott, lowering its head menacingly.

Scott panicked and floundered in midair, struggling to avoid the deer’s antlers. Unfortunately he didn’t flounder enough and the deer’s antlers grazed his side. Scott roared in a mixture of pain and surprise, clutching his side as he landed on the ground. The deer, startled by Scott’s roar, bolted in Stiles’ direction and knocked him over as he ran away.

“Fuck me!” Stiles moaned, clutching his injured foot. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, I think it’s twisted pretty bad.” Isaac and Laura were instantly by his side and Isaac gingerly pressed his fingers to his ankle and black lines danced up his arm.

“What are you doing?” Stiles asked. 

“Taking away your pain, so relax,” Isaac answered. “Just relax.” 

“I didn’t know you could take pain away,” Stiles sighed as the sharp pain in his ankle dulled to a low throb. “That’s pretty cool.”

“I’m guessing there’s a lot of things you don’t know about us, seeing as how you’ve never been around werewolves before,” Laura said, shaking her head as rest of the pack gathered around them. “But that’s why you’re here, apparently.”

“ _What’s wrong with you?”_ Derek yelled at Scott. “You put everyone in danger! And now your friend is broken and hurt. Did you forget the part where he’s _human_?”

“I have a name,” Stiles muttered to no one in particular. “And I’m not broken. I just twisted my ankle when I fell. I’ll be fine in a couple of days. Besides, what’s wrong with being a human?” 

“I didn’t… I didn’t know,” Scott said apologetically. “I was just trying to… I wanted to be a part of the pack.”

“You’re _not_ apart of this pack,” Derek growled, eyes flashing dangerously. Scott whimpered and took a couple steps back, but Derek was relentless, closing the distance immediately. “You had your chance and you didn’t take it. You don’t get to come crawling back and try to solicit your place with us. And you’ll _never_ be a part of the pack with your reckless antics.”

“Derek, he said it was an accident,” Erica said, rolling her eyes. “No one’s hurt. Let it go. You’re overreacting. Unless there’s something that you’re not telling us.”

Derek whirled around and bared his fangs at Erica, who bared her own fangs in return.

“Enough you two,” Laura said, without turning around. “Boyd?”

Boyd rolled his eyes and stood between Derek and Erica, placing one hand on Derek’s chest and fixing Erica with a pointed look.

“You’re lucky I can’t stay mad at Boyd’s handsome face, Derek,” Erica said through her fangs. “But you really need to work out your issues.”

“The only issues I have are when idiots endanger my pack,” Derek growled, shooting Scott another glare.

“Derek, stop,” Laura said, flashing her eyes. “Everything worked out okay. Scott’s sorry. Stiles is fine. It’s not a big deal. Drop it.”

“Whatever,” Derek growled. “I’m going home.”

“Why does he hate us?” Stiles asked as he watched Derek walk away.

“He doesn’t hate you, he just doesn’t trust you,” Laura answered, shaking her head. “Give him a couple hours and he’ll start to warm up to you. Trust me.”

***

Stiles wasn’t sure if human hours and werewolf hours were two different things, but it was certainly starting to look that way. Even though Laura had said that Derek would start to warm up to him in a couple of hours, Derek had barely said two words to him since he got back to the Hale house. In fact, it seemed like he was doing his best to pretend that Stiles didn’t exist at all. 

He had snorted disdainfully when Stiles limped through the front door and rolled his eyes a record number of times as Stiles helped himself to dinner.

“This is really good,” Stiles said around a mouthful of stroganoff. “Who made this?”

“I did,” Isaac said, raising his hand sheepishly. “It’s an—my mom used to make it, and she showed me how.”

“It’s delicious!” Scott exclaimed. “You should make this all the time. It’s so good.”

“Thanks, Scott. I’m glad you like it,” Isaac said, blushing. “It’d be really cool if you joined our pack. You’re a lot nicer than some people,” he added, shooting a subtle glance at Jackson. 

Behind him, Erica rolled her eyes and Boyd shook his head fondly. 

“As much as I would love to be on the receiving end of Isaac’s back-handed compliments, we should really talk about why you two are here,” Jackson said, ruffling Isaac’s hair before glaring at Scott. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m still not buying your story.” 

“Buying whose story? And does anyone want to introduce me to the new werewolf in my kitchen?”

“Peter’s back,” Erica said, rolling her eyes. “And we were having _so_ much fun without him.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t miss you either, Erica,” Peter said. “And who do we have here?” he asked, turning to Stiles. “You’re obviously not the werewolf I smelled earlier. You’re a human. You smell good though. Are you two joining our pack?" 

“I don’t…” 

“No,” Derek cut in. “They’re not.” 

“I don’t remember you being the alpha when I left, Derek. So I don’t think you have the authority to make that decision,” Peter said, raising an eyebrow. Derek growled in response and Peter simply chuckled before turning back to Stiles and Scott. “So if you two aren’t joining the pack then why are you here? Some sort of human/werewolf affirmative action program?” 

“I—affirmative action?” 

“I guess you could say that,” Stiles cut in, before Scott could embarrass himself even more. Unlike Isaac, Peter probably wasn’t going to be so enamored with Scott’s endearing obliviousness. 

Stiles quickly filled Peter in on the recent werewolf attacks and why he and Scott were really there, making sure to highlight how badly the Argents and a growing number of citizens were starting to feel threatened by the presence of the Hale pack. 

“Well that’s interesting,” Peter said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “I was just in Rocklin the other month. The O’Connor Pack was actually quite helpful and friendly. I can’t believe that they would attack the city without a reason.”

“Well they did,” Stiles said. “Or they had a reason but no one knows what it is.” 

“I’m sure it’s all a huge misunderstanding,” Peter said, shrugging. “So, Stiles, how long are you and Scott going to be staying with us? Especially since I’m sure Laura has told you that the Hale pack has no intention of attacking Beacon Hills as long as she’s the alpha.”

“Well, we were hoping that Scott could learn a couple of things from you guys,” Stiles stammered. “He’s kind of new at being a werewolf.”

“And what about you, Stiles?” Peter asked, leaning way into Stiles’ personal bubble. Derek growled lowly behind him but Peter simply waved his hand in dismissal. “You’re not a werewolf, so what’s a smart guy like you doing with wolves like us? Are you going to join the pack too? We haven’t had a human in our pack in ages.”

“Not that we haven’t done just fine without one.” 

“Leave him _alone_ , Derek,” Laura said. “Stiles is here as a representative of Beacon Hills. We’ve been out of the loop for too long and if we can learn things from about the city life from Stiles, then that could help us build a better relationship with Beacon Hills.”

“So what, they’re just supposed to stay here until Scott learns how to be a better werewolf?” Jackson snorted. “That could take a while. He almost got Stiles killed today.” 

“I’m _trying_ ,” Scott said, glaring at Jackson. “Just give me a chance.” 

“I don’t…”

“Jackson, I seem to remember not too long ago I took a spoiled rich boy into my pack,” Laura said, fixing Jackson with a pointed look. “He started out as one of the worst werewolves I had ever seen, but he worked really hard and is now one of my most trusted betas. Do you have any idea who that could’ve been? And how do you think he would’ve felt if I hadn’t let him in my pack?”

“I didn’t know that Boyd was rich,” Jackson said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly and ignoring the way Boyd rolled his eyes. “But I guess he would’ve felt pretty bad.”

“Right,” Laura said, “But thankfully I did let ‘ _Boyd’_ into my pack and it turned out wonderfully, so I think it’s only fair that I extend the same offer to Scott and Stiles, at least until we’re able to build a strong relationship with Beacon Hills. Of course, if they want to remain in the pack after that, then they’re welcome to, but for now…”

“You mean…”

“Yes, Scott,” Laura said, smirking. “Welcome to the Hale Pack.”

“Laura, you can’t be serious,” Derek growled. “ We barely know them and you’re just going to let both of them into the pack just like that?”

“Derek, don’t be like that,” Laura said softly. “This might be good for us. We haven’t exactly had the best relationship with the city.”

“And we don’t need one,” Derek shot back. “We’ve been perfectly fine up until now, and we don’t need the Sheriff’s permission to keep doing what we’ve been doing. We haven’t done anything wrong, and we don’t need to prove ourselves to him.”

“It wouldn’t hurt though,” Isaac spoke up softly. “Stiles said that people were afraid of us. They don’t have to be.”

“What the city thinks of us isn’t our problem,” Derek shot back. “We haven’t given them any reason to be afraid of us.” 

“But other packs have. And like it or not, the actions of other packs do have an effect on how people will view us,” Boyd pointed out. “It’s unfortunate that people think that all werewolf packs are interchangeable, but this is a great way to build rapport with the townspeople without doing anything other than being ourselves. I think we’d be foolish to pass up this opportunity.” 

“Exactly,” Laura said. “Derek, you heard Stiles and Scott. Four werewolf packs have attacked their cities in the past month, including two this week. People are afraid of us. And fear can cause people can do stupid things. You and I both know that.” 

“Don’t do this Laura,” Derek said softly. “It’s not the same thing.” 

“It’s close,” Laura said. “And I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if it happened again and I knew I’d had some way to prevent it. Derek, this can only help us. And I really need you to be with me on this.”

“Fine,” Derek said after a pause. “But if you two endanger my pack in any way, I won’t hesitate to rip both your throats out with my teeth,” he growled, glaring at Stiles and Scott. “I don’t care if you’re a werewolf or the Sheriff’s son. You hurt them, and I _will_ kill you.” 

“Derek, don’t be dramatic,” Erica said, rolling her eyes. “You can’t seriously think that they want to hurt us. They’re the ones that came to help us in the first place.” 

“Think what you want,” Derek growled. “But don’t come crying to me when this all comes crashing down.” He glared at Stiles and Scott one last time before disappearing into the night.

“Are you kidding me?” Erica growled, standing up and heading towards the door. “He did not just walk out on us.”

“Erica, let him go,” Laura said softly, while Boyd grabbed Erica’s hand. “He needs time. Just give him some space.” 

“It’s not even close to the full moon though,” Jackson sneered. “What’s his deal? Hey!” he yelped, rubbing his arm where Boyd punched him. “That hurt.”

“No, it didn’t,” Boyd said, rolling his eyes. 

“On a lighter note, who wants ice cream?” Peter asked. 

*** 

“Don’t eat Erica’s strawberries and crème or she’ll fight you,” Isaac muttered as they all made their way to the kitchen. “I don’t even think she’ll go easy on you because you’re a human, either. She broke my arm because I snuck a bowl after a full moon.” 

“I _apologized_ ,” Erica said, grinning as she passed out bowls and spoons. “And I wouldn’t break Stiles’ arm. We already know he won’t heal as fast. Maybe I’ll just hit him with a car engine or something.” 

“I think I’ll take the broken arm for two hundred, Alex,” Stiles joked weakly. 

“You’re dumber than you look then,” Jackson sneered, scooping mounds of mint chocolate chip into a bowl. “Broken arms suck. I’d rather be hit with a car part.”

“Well I’d really rather neither happened, to be honest,” Stiles said. “So, do you all have your own individual ice cream cartons?” He asked, noting the way each pack member had a bowl of a different flavor. 

“Yeah, it keeps the fighting at a minimum,” Erica said, stealing a spoonful of Boyd’s Rocky Road. “But we know how to share.”

“And you all live in this house?” Stiles asked. “What about your parents?”

“We all have different stories,” Erica said, shrugging. “I ran away from home and so did Isaac. Boyd’s parents let him live here because it ‘keeps him out of trouble’—not that Boyd gets into any trouble anyway. He’s boring, but you’ll find that out later.” She stole another spoonful of ice cream in an effort to get a reaction out of him, but Boyd simply shrugged and continued eating.

“See? Boring,” Erica said, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, Jackson’s parent’s pretty much let him do whatever he wants, and we’re the only ones who put up with his bullshit, so he’s kind of stuck with us.” 

“Gotcha,” Stiles answered. “And Laura’s your alpha? She bit all of you?”

“Yep. We all asked for it for different reasons,” Isaac answered. “But I think all of us wanted to be a part of a strong family unit and now we’re pack. And you’re pack now, too,” he added, beaming at Scott, who beamed in response.

“So how long have you been a werewolf, McCall?” Jackson asked. “And why are you an omega?”

“I got bit my junior year, so about eight months,” Scott answered. “And I don’t know who bit me. I went out for a run in the preserve and I got attacked. When I woke up my clothes were in tatters and I could see and hear way better.”

“Well, I like that you were an omega,” Isaac said. “Because now you’re a part of our pack. And we’re the best pack around.”

“Do you know any of the other packs?” Scott asked.

“Not really,” Jackson answered. “We go to school in Fairfield, so sometimes we see betas from the McLaughlin pack, but other than that, no.”

“That explains why I’ve never seen you in school,” Scott told Isaac. “Why do you guys go to school there?”

“It’s a bigger school than Beacon Hills so it’s easier for us to fade into the background,” Erica said. “Everyone probably knows everyone at your school, huh? And everyone knows that Scott’s a werewolf?”

“I think so,” Stiles answered, mentally going through the entire student body, while Scott nodded affirmatively. 

“Exactly,” Erica said, “Laura’s really big on us keeping a low profile. So that’s why we go away to school.”

“I’m bored. Why are we talking about school while we’re on summer vacation?” Jackson said, rolling his eyes. “Boyd, come spar with me.” 

“We just got back from a hunt,” Boyd said, licking his spoon. “I don’t want to go back outside.” 

“Ugh, what kind of werewolf are you?” Jackson said, rolling his eyes. “McCall. You. Me. Sparring circle. Right now.” 

“But I don’t even know how to get all my claws out,” Scott said, frowning slightly.

“One hand behind my back then,” Jackson said, rolling his eyes. “Come _on_ , I need to do something.” 

“Okay, fine, but I’m probably not going to be very good. So don’t expect too much,” Scott sighed, getting up and following Jackson to the front yard. Isaac trailed after him, a nervous look on his face.

“This I gotta see. Come on, Boyd,” Erica said, grabbing Boyd’s hand and pulling him out of the kitchen.

“Hey guys, wait for…” Stiles started, but trailed off when he realized that he was the only one still in the room. “Oh… Okay. I’ll just catch up with you later.” 

*** 

“Are you okay, Stiles?”

Stiles looked up from where he was absentmindedly stirring his melting ice cream and saw that Laura was sitting next to him. 

“Yeah… Fine,” Stiles answered. “I just don’t like vanilla all that much.”

“I’m a werewolf, Stiles,” Laura chuckled softly. “I can tell when you lie.” 

“Right, I don’t think Scott’s learned that trick yet. Maybe Isaac can teach him how to do it.” Stiles smiled, rolling his eyes. He could hear Isaac’s and the rest of the pack’s playful howls in the front yard, and for a split second, he wished that he was a werewolf so he could join them.

“Scott’s going to be a great werewolf,” Laura said thoughtfully. “I can tell. So you wanna tell me what’s wrong now?”

“I kinda feel a little left out, I guess.” Stiles answered. “I didn’t think it would be this weird to be the only human in a werewolf pack.” 

“You know you could always go out there and play with them,” Laura said gently. “They’d take it easy on you. Or _easier_ in Jackson’s case.” 

“Yeah, maybe later,” Stiles said. “I just needed some time to myself, I guess.”

“And I know you feel weird now, but trust me, some of the most powerful packs on this continent have prominent human members,” Laura said. “And some werewolves even see humanity as a strength instead of a liability.” 

“Well I’d love to meet those werewolves.” 

“This doesn’t have anything to with what Derek said earlier, does it?” 

“Look, Laura, Scott and I… Or at least _I_ don’t have to be here,” Stiles said, going back to stirring his ice cream. He briefly thought about lying again, but Laura had already called him out once. “I can go home, I can tell my dad that you’re all good people and none of this has to happen. And that way, Scott can really focus on being a better werewolf without having me as a distraction.” 

“I appreciate that, Stiles, but I think you _and_ Scott being here is the best thing for our pack right now,” Laura said. “Don’t let Derek discourage you. Give him a couple days.”

“You told me earlier that it would only take a couple hours,” Stiles pointed out.

“I can’t be right all the time,” Laura said, smiling. “Go get your things and get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love :)


	3. Chapter 3

“Dude, I still can’t believe this is happening,” Scott said, as he and Stiles unloaded their bags from the jeep. Scott was nursing a rapidly fading bruise from his sparring session with Jackson, but was otherwise unaffected. “We’re actually a part of a werewolf pack, the _Hale pack_. How cool is that?” 

“It is pretty cool,” Stiles agreed. “I have to admit, I never even thought I’d see another werewolf, let alone be a part of a werewolf pack. Especially not with all the horrible things the Argents said about them. I always thought werewolves were kind of scary. ” 

“Yeah, so did I. Even when I got bit, I was still nervous about what would happen if I ever met another werewolf. But everyone here seems pretty nice,” Scott said. “I mean Jackson and Derek are kind of dicks, but the rest seem pretty cool. I think Isaac’s my favorite though.” 

“No surprise there,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “You two couldn’t have been more obvious. And what was with that jumping out of the trees trying to impress him? That worked out well, didn’t it?” 

“Well, it looked like he liked it when Erica did it, so I wanted to try too,” Scott explained sheepishly. “Sorry about your ankle by the way. That part wasn’t supposed to happen.” 

“Yeah, I kind of gathered that,” Stiles said, waving his hand absentmindedly. “So, what, you were just supposed to impress Isaac with your acrobatic tricks, sweep him off his feet and then ride off into the sunset together? And don’t try to tell me you didn’t go sparring with Jackson just to try to impress him either.” 

“I haven’t been that obvious, have I?” 

“So obvious,” Stiles said, grinning. “But it looks like it’s working for you. Isaac’s definitely interested.” 

“I guess,” Scott said. “But I’m not the only on someone’s radar. Derek seems to be pretty fond of you.” 

“Are you kidding me? The dude _hates_ me,” Stiles retorted, shooting Scott a confused look. “Did you see the way he glared at me when I limped into the dining room? He looked like he wanted to rip my throat out with his teeth.” 

“Yeah, that sounds a little dramatic,” Scott said, rolling his eyes. “More like he wanted to take you to his room and rip your _clothes_ off with his teeth. He was totally giving you angry bedroom eyes when he thought no one was looking.” 

“And you would know that, how?” Stiles asked. “You were too busy making _regular_ bedroom eyes at Isaac when _everyone_ was looking. And I’m not even sure we’re talking about the same guy, because I don’t know if you noticed, but he didn’t really seem too thrilled about us being a part of the pack. Especially me, since I’m a human.” 

“Oh, that diva fit,” Scott said, rolling his eyes. “I’ve seen better from Greenburg in theatre class. It looked like an act to me. He didn’t exactly fight _that_ much when Laura said that we could be a part of the pack.” 

“Yeah, but—hold on, my phone is ringing.” 

Stiles pulled out his phone and groaned when he saw the name on the caller ID screen. 

“What do you want?” 

“Is that how you always answer the phone, Stiles?” Kate’s voice came through the phone. “What I hadn’t been the one who called you?” 

“Then I would be so much happier,” Stiles deadpanned. “Did you need anything? Or were you just calling to be a pain like usual?” 

“I’m offended at your accusations,” Kate sneered, and Stiles could tell she was smirking. “I was just calling to make sure that you two were still alive. I know werewolves can be _so_ unpredictable. And I’d _hate_ to be the one who has to tell the Sheriff that his only son was killed at the hands of the Hale pack. Especially since your father worked so hard to convince us that you and Scott were the best ones for the job.” 

“Well, it’s a good thing that the Hale pack has no plans of killing or assaulting anyone, werewolf or not,” Stiles replied. “They’re actually all really nice. I don’t know why you guys are so against them. They might even like someone as evil as you.” 

“ _I’m sure_ ,” Kate purred, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Well since you two are still alive, I guess there’s no reason for us to come in and annihilate the Hale pack just yet, is there?” 

“I _just_ said they were nice guys,” Stiles shot back. “They don’t have anything planned, which is more than I can say for you. Why are you so obsessed with trying to kill them?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to the likes of you, Stiles,” Kate hissed. “But since you’re still alive and you’ve been _adopted_ by the Hale pack, I’m guessing that means that you haven’t had a chance to make use of the wolfsbane yet.” 

A chill went through Stiles’ body as he remembered the wolfsbane pouch buried in the bottom of his suitcase. In all the excitement of meeting the Hale pack and having the majority of them like him, Stiles had forgotten that there had been a small part of them that had initially not trusted and feared the Hale pack. Now that he had met them, he knew that they weren’t going to hurt him and that there was really no need for him to have the wolfsbane. 

Still, it felt like he was keeping a dirty secret from them, especially since Laura was allowing him and Scott to live in her house. It just felt like he was abusing her trust, and that was definitely something he didn’t want to do. And given Derek’s parting threat, he didn’t want his throat to be ripped out either. 

“No, I _haven’t_ ,” Stiles hissed. “And I won’t need to, because the Hales are cool. I don’t even think I need this wolfsbane anymore. I could throw it away and be just fine. If anything I wish you were a werewolf, so I could use it on _you_.” 

“Oh how _noble_ of you,” Kate sneered. “Look, Stiles, I think it’s cute that you think that you have so much faith in your newfound friends, but you haven’t dealt with werewolves like I have. And let me offer you some friendly advice, human to human: you can _never_ trust a werewolf.” 

“Well, they seem nice,” Stiles shot back. “And I don’t get any murderous vibes from them, like I do you and Gerard. The Hales are cool, and they made me pack. I’d like to think that means they like me a little bit.” 

“ _Of course_ ,” Kate drawled, “But do they _really_ want you to be a part of their pack? Or are they only putting up with you because of Scott? You really think they value a _human_ life?” 

“I… Wha?” Stiles asked. 

He thought about Derek, who seemed reluctant to accept him and Scott into the pack. Derek had made a huge deal about him being a human, and honestly, Stiles was pretty sure that Derek still wasn’t 100 percent okay with it, regardless of what Scott said. Still, the way Isaac and Erica had included him in the conversations, made it seem like they didn’t care either way, but they had all forgotten about him when they went out to spar. Even Scott, his best friend. 

“I’m going to take your silence as a no,” Kate said, and Stiles could hear the smirk again. “I thought they liked you and they were such nice guys? You mean to tell me that they seamlessly let a human into their pack?” 

“They are…” Stiles protested weakly. 

“Are they nice to you because they actually like you or are they nice to you because you’re the only way that they’re going to keep Scott?” 

“No, Stiles, don’t listen to her,” Scott murmured, squeezing Stiles’ shoulder. He had been listening in on the whole conversation and his facial expression had been growing more and more concerned by the minute. “They really do like you, I know it. Even Derek. It doesn’t matter if you’re a human or not.” 

“I…”

“Think about it, Stiles,” Kate continued smugly. “Why would a pack of supernatural creatures want to anything to do with a _human_? The only reason your throat is still intact is because of Scott. And because you haven’t done anything threatening yet, though I don’t know what a mere human could do against a pack of werewolves. If only you had some wolfsbane to protect yourself.” 

“Stiles, she’s _lying_. Don’t listen to her.”

“Once Scott’s safely in their pack, they’ll forget all about you. Maybe even kill you,” Kate said. “You’re _sure_ you don’t want to keep that wolfsbane for your own protection? I doubt Scott could protect you from a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves even if he _wanted_ to. That is, of course, if they haven’t already turned him against you.” 

“They—Scott wouldn’t do that to me,” Stiles muttered. “He’s my best friend.” 

“For now, at least,” Kate said airily. “All I’m saying is that you might not want to be so trusting of your newfound ‘friends’ and you probably don’t want to trash that wolfsbane just yet. Take it as some friendly advice, human to human. Who knows, I might be the last person you talk to for a long time.” 

Stiles frowned and looked away as he put away his phone. He had been with the Hale pack for less than a day, and Kate had just voiced all of his doubts about being here in one phone call. More than anything he wanted to prove her wrong, but he was already feeling out of place in the Hale pack. 

He didn’t have any enhanced strength, speed or senses and it didn’t help that he wasn’t supernaturally attractive like Scott and the rest of the werewolves. He knew that Kate lied as easily as she breathed, but he couldn’t help be feel that there was some sort of truth behind her words. 

Especially given how easily the others had left him behind. 

“Stiles, don’t listen to her,” Scott pleaded. “Look, I know you and Derek didn’t get off to the greatest start, but you can’t let Kate convince you that the Hale pack is bad. They have reasons not to trust us too, you know. We just have to make the best of it.” 

“I know,” Stiles muttered, deciding not to bring up the fact that Scott and the others had ditched him. It was probably a one-time thing. “I… Sorry. I shouldn’t have listened to her.” 

“It’s cool, buddy,” Scott answered, placing a hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “Come on, let’s go unpack.” 

But even as Stiles unpacked all of his clothes and belongings into his dresser, he held the pack of wolfsbane with a conflicted expression. In the back of his head, he _knew_ that Kate was probably lying and was trying to stir the pot, but he still couldn’t shake the fact that there had to be _some_ truth to her words.

Stiles looked over his shoulder at Scott’s sleeping figure and wished that he were as trusting and carefree as he was. Stiles took one last look at the wolfsbane, sighed, and tucked it under his clothes and shut his dresser drawer. 

***

“Get up.” 

“Nggh. Wanna sleep,” Stiles murmured, rolling over and pulling the blanket over his head. “Five more minutes.” 

“You want to be part of this pack? _Get. Up_ ,” Derek growled. “Training starts in five minutes and every training session starts with a seven mile run.” 

“Derek, what about his ankle?” Scott asked groggily. “He’s a human. He hasn’t fully healed yet. ” 

Derek rolled his eyes and growled low in his throat. “Of course he hasn’t. Fine. Scott, meet Laura and the rest of the pack in the front of the house. Stiles, you’re with me. Backyard. Five minutes. ” 

***

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Stiles muttered as he walked into the backyard. 

Derek was standing shirtless in the middle of the backyard, muscular arms crossed over his muscular chest. Even in the early morning light, Stiles could tell that every inch of Derek’s body was covered with muscle. It was making it really hard to hate the guy when he looked like he had just stepped out of the pages of a muscle and fitness catalog. 

“How’s your ankle?” Derek asked, looking Stiles up and down. 

“Fine,” Stiles answered, matching Derek’s annoyed tone. “I can’t really run seven miles, but I should be game for anything else.” 

“Good,” Derek said, letting his eyes flash. “We’re going to work on your hand-to-hand skills.” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Stiles said, taking a step back. “Why would we want to do that?” 

“On the off chance that what you’ve been saying about werewolf attacks on other cities are true, then every member of our pack needs to be ready just in case they decide to attack us next. And that includes our human members.” 

“I… I’m part of the pack?” Stiles asked hopefully. 

“Not by my choice,” Derek snorted, seemingly ignoring Stiles’ crestfallen expression. “For some reason, Laura thinks that it would be beneficial to have a human in the pack, She’s the alpha, so here you are.” 

“Oh. Gotcha,” Stiles murmured, kicking at the ground. “That makes sense. So, you’re going to teach me how to fight?” 

“Not exactly,” Derek answered. “Your humanity automatically places you at a disadvantage against anything supernatural. So I’m going to show you some a couple moves that’ll make werewolves at least think twice about attacking you. Show me your ready position.” 

“Uh…” Stiles clenched both his hands into fists and crouched into a ready position like the one his dad had taught him. John had always made a big deal about how if he was going to be the son of the Sheriff, he needed to be able to know how to protect himself.

“You really think you’re going to be able to stop anyone with a stance like that?” Derek snorted. “Where did you even pick that up?” 

“Hey! My dad taught this to me, and he’s the Sheriff. It’s standard procedure in hand to hand combat for new cadets,” Stiles shot back. “If you think you can get through it, try me.” 

The words were barely out of Stiles’ mouth when suddenly Derek was right in his personal space, grabbing his wrists and pressing him against a tree. His eyes flickered gold and he fixed Stiles with an intense glare, as if daring Stiles to say anything else. Stiles gulped and tried to keep his eyes trained on Derek’s face and not drift down to Derek’s rippling six-pack. He wasn’t sure if survival techniques against wolves were the same as survival techniques against werewolves, but he had a feeling that Derek would be pretty annoyed if he screamed loudly and tried to make himself larger. 

“Anything else you want to try?” Derek growled, golden eyes boring into Stiles’. 

“Uh, no, not really,” Stiles gasped. “I’m out of ideas.”

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head as he let Stiles get up from the tree. 

“How’s your ankle?” 

“Uh, fine, I guess,” Stiles answered, shaking his ankle a little bit. There was a slight twinge, but nothing too serious. 

“Good,” Derek replied, cracking his neck and flexing his claws. “That means you can keep going.” 

They ended up ‘training’ for at least another two hours, but Stiles wasn’t really sure that training was the proper term. It was more of Derek, in all his shirtless glory, running Stiles ragged across the backyard. Stiles had never been more exhausted in his entire life, and that was including the time he had helped Scott figure out just how fast he could run after he had first gotten bit. 

It was especially difficult to focus once a fine sheen of sweat started to coat Derek’s body. The glistening sheen was really distracting as it highlighted Derek’s already incredibly defined torso. Stiles was having a hard time deciding what to focus on. On one hand, Derek was pretty much trying to kill him, but on the other hand Derek was also the hottest thing that he had ever seen. 

Stiles had never felt so aroused and afraid at the same time. But he had never been a part of a werewolf pack, either, so there was a first time for everything. 

“Okay, okay, I’m tapping out,” Stiles gasped, after Derek had tackled him to the ground for the umpteenth time. “I’m exhausted.” 

Stiles looked up at Derek, who was kneeling over the top of him with an annoyed expression on his face. Stiles tried to look as pitiful as possible in hopes that it would help his case. 

Evidently it helped as Derek rolled his eyes and groaned before pressing his face deep into the crook of Stiles neck. 

“Um… What’s happening?” Stiles squeaked. 

“Be quiet,” Derek muttered. He exhaled deeply and nosed up and down Stiles’ neck. “I’m scenting you. So you smell like pack.” 

Stiles allowed Derek to scent him in silence for a couple more seconds before it got kind of weird, and he had to find some way to break the silence. 

“So this is a werewolf thing?” 

“Obviously,” Derek said, standing up and rolling his eyes. For a fleeting moment, Stiles thought that a conflicted expression flickered across Derek’s face, but his default stony scowl quickly reappeared. “Come on, time for breakfast.” 

***

The rest of the pack were already sitting in the dining room, a huge mound of pancakes on the table. They smelled delicious, and Stiles suddenly became aware of just how hungry he was. He made a mental note to never train with Derek first thing in the morning without at least having something in his stomach.

Derek stiffened when he saw the rest of his pack, and a frown appeared on his face. 

“Oh, good, pancakes,” Stiles exclaimed, making his way over to the kitchen. “I’m starving.” 

“Not yet,” Derek growled, grabbing Stiles by his arm and pulling him back. “Go shower. You reek of sweat.” 

“But…pancakes,” Stiles pouted, looking longingly over at the rapidly declining stack. “I’m so hungry. I just want something to eat.” 

He also wanted to be a part of the conversation that was happening around the breakfast table, but he didn’t want to let Derek know that. Still, whatever Erica was saying had to be hilarious, since everyone was laughing. Even Boyd had a decent sized grin on his face. 

“I can’t just stop and say hi?” Stiles pleaded. “You had to have heard that everyone was in the kitchen. Why did you keep me out there longer than everyone else?” 

“Because you’re behind, and you’re going to learn slower than everyone else,” Derek growled. “You’re a _human_ , Stiles. Or did you forget?” 

“No,” Stiles muttered darkly, casting another look over to Scott and the rest of the pack. They seemed to be having a pretty fun time without him. “I didn’t forget.” 

“ _Shower_. You can say hi when you’re done. You’re not a werewolf, so you don’t know how bad you smell. Laura doesn’t let us eat after training unless we’ve showered,” Derek growled, his tone leaving no room for argument. “If you’re quick enough, there’ll still be some left,” he added, arching an eyebrow as if daring Stiles to say anything else. “And if not I’ll just make some more.”

“You can make pancakes?” 

“You act like they’re hard to make,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. “Shower, go. And don’t use all the hot water. I’ll be right behind you.” 

Stiles glared at Derek, but trudged up the stairs and took the quickest shower he had ever taken in his entire life. When he came back downstairs, there was a seat next to Scott and a tall stack of pancakes sitting on the table. 

“I guess he can be kind of nice,” Stiles murmured, looking around the room for Derek, though he was nowhere to be found. 

“Hey buddy, I was wondering where you where,” Scott said around a mouthful of pancakes as Stiles sat next to him. “How was your training with Derek?” 

“It was intense, dude,” Stiles replied, thankful that Scott had at least waited for him. “That guy’s like a drill sergeant, Coach Finstock and a cross fit instructor all rolled into one. I don’t think I’ve ever worked out that hard in my life. How was your run?” 

“Long,” Scott answered. “Seven miles is a lot, even with boosted stamina. I don’t know how marathon runners do it, because I sure don’t like it.” 

“In other words he’s mad because he’s the slowest member of the pack,” Jackson said, walking out of the kitchen and munching on an apple.

“Hey, be nice, Jackson,” Isaac said, following Jackson out of the kitchen. “You used to be slow too. And I’m still faster than you. Give him a break.”

“You’re only defending him because you think he’s cute,” Jackson said playfully. 

Isaac opened his mouth to reply, but quickly blushed and turned away. Stiles rolled his eyes as Scott preened beside him. 

“I guess it’s not such a bad thing,” Jackson said, pretending to be deep in thought. “I mean you could’ve had a crush on Stilinski here. How bad would that have been?”

“Whatever you say, Jackson,” Isaac said, grinning and rolling his eyes. “You’re always right.”

“Don’t you forget it,” Jackson said. He pulled Isaac close and briefly nuzzled his cheek before turning and walking out of the room. Stiles raised an eyebrow, because Derek had done the same thing not too long ago. Except where Stiles had felt a little awkward, Isaac looked content. 

“What was that about?” Scott asked, frowning slightly. 

“You get used to it,” Isaac said. “If Jackson starts to tease you that means he likes you. He teases Laura and me all the time.” 

“No, not that. What did he do to your cheek?” Scott asked. Stiles rolled his eyes; Scott and jealousy never really went well together.

“Oh, you mean when he scented me?” Isaac asked, tilting his head. “It’s just a way for us to re-establish pack bonds. Kind of really helps solidify relationships. Jackson’s really big on it. Surprisingly Boyd is too.” 

“So, he’s not into you?” Scott asked accusingly. “You two aren’t dating?” 

“No way,” Isaac laughed. “For one thing, Jackson’s like a brother to me, and for that was way too brief to be anything other than platonic. I’d have to shower if he did it too much, otherwise I’d smell more like Jackson than pack, and that would definitely send the wrong impression.” 

Stiles’ eyes widened as he remembered that Derek had just told him to shower after their training session. Derek had said that he’d smelled like sweat, but after listening to Isaac, Stiles wasn’t so sure that was the entire reason. 

“So, Jackson can scent me and make me smell like pack too?” Scott asked. 

“Yep,” Isaac answered. “But he might have to scent you for a little bit longer because you don’t really smell like pack yet.” 

“Or you could just do it instead of him,” Scott suggested, raising his eyebrows. 

“I… I could do that,” Isaac said, the blush returning to his cheeks. He turned to Stiles, seemingly asking permission to go ‘scent’ his best friend. 

“I’m sure I can find someone else to make me smell like pack,” Stiles said, waving his had airily. 

“You already smell like pack,” Isaac said, leaning in and taking a deep breath. “And you smell like Derek a little bit too, but I guess that’s because you spent almost two hours together.” 

“Yeah… That’s exactly what happened. Two hours of nothing but training,” Stiles said, fighting to keep his cheeks from heating up as he replayed what Derek had done to his neck. If Isaac could still smell him even after Stiles had showered, Derek had definitely done some scenting that went beyond the platonic levels. Maybe Scott had been right, maybe Derek _had_ been giving him angry bedroom eyes. 

“Okay... Sure,” Isaac said slowly, eyeing Stiles curiously. “So… um…” 

“Go,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “Scott needs to smell like pack, or whatever. You two get out of here.” 

Isaac brightened as Scott grabbed his hand and led him to probably the nearest room with a bed and a locking door. Stiles shook his head fondly as he watched them leave. Those two couldn’t be anymore obvious if they tried. 

Speaking of obvious, Stiles sniffed and his shoulder and upper arm. He didn’t know what ‘pack’ smelled like, but now he was pretty sure that Derek had taken care of it and then some. 

Maybe living with the Hale Pack as a human wasn’t going to be as bad as he thought.


End file.
